Self care is a necessity not a luxury in my opinion and it should be a major focal point in your day. But with today’s busy lifestyle, self care is something that is often forgotten. I encourage you to be different. Like I always say at the end of my yoga classes, “You are the most important person in your life.” Learning to love yourself and take care of yourself should always be your top priority. When you consistently practice self care, you will have a surplus of love and patience to give back to the world.

Self care needs to be approached from three angles:

Nutrition: What you put into your body in order for your cells to be happy and function properly

Muscular/Skeletal: How you physically feel by taking care of your muscles and joints

Think about your body as a yummy chocolate crosisant. We all have this delicious, sweet chocolate center buried beneath a few layers of soft dough and covered in a crunchy, flaky shell. Sometimes we put so much empahsis on the presentation of that shell that we forget how to get to the soft dough or never even know what that chocolate layer tastes like.

Fine, maybe you don’t like chocolate choissants, but still, you are probably pretty awesome and are totally worth the time and effort it takes to get to know you better.

Now that you have a brief understanding of self care, let’s get into the 20 products to promote self care.

Radical Self Care Through Nutrition

I’m starting with the kitchen because what you put into your body makes the biggest impact on how that exterior layer looks and feels. Having healthy skin and hair, a body that is strong and nimble, and cells in your body that are working properly requires putting good foods into your body and exercising often.

Personally, when I travel abroad or am on a road trip with no access to electricity for our RV, it’s really hard for us to practice as much self care as we do when we are home in our RV and the reason for that is not having access to the appliances we rely on for cooking and baking really healthy foods.

1 | Juicer

I think this one makes the biggest impact in my overall health. I was heartbroken when my favoite juicer the Omega broke and I had to go back to my Jack La Lane centrifuge juicer. It still works fine so I haven’t bit the bullet to replace the Omega, but if you are ordering your first juicer, I highly recommend the Omega.

Our go-to juice recipe for one person:

3 large stalks of cale (or 1 colander full of spinach)

3 carrots

3 celery stalks

1 small beets or 1/2 of a large beet

1 green apple

1 lemon

optional: add a clove of garlic and a slice of ginger

2 | Blender, Nutri Bullet, Ninja or Vitamix

One of the easiest ways to get more good stuff into your body and promote radical self care is by delivering it through a smoothie. While I do prefer juicing over smoothies, I like that I can squeeze a lot of nutrients into my smoothies to make them full of superfoods and supplements. Be careful with how much fruit and sugar you put into your smoothie so that you don’t cause or exacerbate any disbiosis issues.

Vitamixes are great becasue you can also use them to make soups and sorbets but I only have a nutri bullet and it gets the job done. If you have a Vitamix you could probably do without the food processor I listed below.

3 | Instant Pot or Crock Pot

Most nights we eat some form of a rice bowl that contains brown rice, black beans, meat, and veggies. Using an Instant pot or crock pot helps make dinners fast and easy. If you don’t love to cook, an Instant pot could be your new best friend. I love how fast it cooks beans, rice, and meat. If you are short on time, cook a large batch of beans and then rice ahead of time and store it in tupperwares for the week. Then throw in your meat right before dinner and when it’s done, mix in a serving of beans and rice to go with your meat. Serve on a bed of arugula. Voila!

4 | French Press for Coffee

This is the best way to make coffee. Please don’t buy pre-ground coffee! Get organic coffee beans, grind only what you need each morning to make your cup of Joe, then press your freshly ground coffee.

Pour overs are also great, but I just prefer the french press now since I’m usually making coffee for 3-4 people.

Ikea sells a french press for only $10! The best way to make sure you get an amazing cup of coffee is to buy a coffee grinder and an electric tea kettle that tells you the temperature of the water.

To make your coffee in the french press:

Heat filtered water to 202 degrees exactly (if it comes to a boil it will burn the coffee) and pour it over 1/4 cup of freshly ground organic coffee. Let it sit for 3-5 minutes, then slowly press and serve.

5 | Standing Mixer

One of the easiest ways to be gluten free is to bake sweets yourself and having a standing mixer makes baking so much easier. We also use it to make our own homemade pie crust and pizza dough. Cooking healthier alternatives to the things you like going out to eat is probably my number one tip for having more self care in your diet.

6 | Food Processor

This one is a bit of a bonus, but I love having it nonetheless for a few things that we make every week like avocado salad dressing, hummus, detox spread, and a pasta-free spaghetti sauce:

Avocado Salad Dressing Recipe

I was inspired by Trader Joe’s Green Godess for our avocado salad dressing. It is amazing! We make ahead of time and as more of a paste and then thin it out with a little more apple cider vinegar and extra virgin olive oil when it’s time to add it to the salad.

For the salad dressing, combine all of these ingredients into the food processor:

3 small, ripe avocados

1/2 cup chopped basil

1/2 cup chopped parsley or cilantro (or a combo)

1/3 cup lemon juice (approx 2 lemons)

1/4 cup red onion diced

2 green onions chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup water

1/2 tbsp salt

1 tsp ground pepper

Hummus Recipe

Our homemade hummus is so delicious and it is an easy way to get the kids to eat their veggies.

For hummus, combine all of the following in a food processor and thin with a little water if needed:

1 can of garbanzo beans (drained)

1/3 cup of tahini

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 tbsp pine nuts

Detox Spread Recipe

For a quick and easy detox spread to add to your sandwich or just top your protein with, combine 1 cup basil, 1/2 cup parsley, 1/2 cup cilantro, and 2 cloves of garlic. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a nutri-bullet or ninja just the same.

Best Self Care Products For The Body

Self care through stretching, myofascial release, and massage makes a huge impact on your self care. I love that most of these things are easy to travel with and that’s important since all of our travel involves intense sports and activity.

7 | Tennis Ball or Massage ball

We don’t go anywhere without some combo of tennis and massage balls. Myofascial release with a tennis ball feels amazing. Click here for my head to toe guide to myofascial release (coming soon).

8 | Foam Roller

While we don’t travel abroad with this, we do use one every day in our RV whether we are road tripping or not. I really love the feel of the Manduka foam roller.

9-14 | Yoga Mat, Block, Bolster, Strap + Blanket

Yoga is honestly the very basis of self care. The goal of yoga isn’t to put yourself in the most awkward and uncomfortable positions rather, to spend time in postures with a nice slow controlled breathing rate so that you can relax your muscles and re-connect with yourself. Yoga props are great for helping you accomplish this and one of my favorite styles of yoga is Yin, where you use blocks, blankets, and bolsters to comfortably hold postures for 5 minutes at a time. Yoga blocks are also helpful for more advanced myofascial release poses.

Related:

15 | Yoga Toes

If you hike a lot, I highly recommend getting yoga toes. They are so great for taking care of your feet after a hard hike and they will make your toes more flexible which will help your feet not get as tired when you hike long distances or stand for long periods of time.

16 | Candle + Essential Oils

Don’t forget to ignite all the senses when practicing self care. Adding the scents of essential oils can do wonders to your wellness by helping you to relax and breath deeper. Also, if you buy candles, make sure they are beeswax candles. If you can’t find beeswax candles, try using a diffuser for essential oils.

Favorite Self Care Products For the Mind

I saved the best for last…your mind. Self care starts with the story you tell yourself every day. Don’t believe me? Read my this blog and see why self love starts with the relationship you create with your thoughts (coming soon).

17 | Planner + Journal

There are numerous studies that show how journaling can improve happiness and well being. Journaling is an essential but often challenging part of radical self care. I really like Brendan Buchard’s (author of the Motivational Manifesto) High Performance Planner. It helps strategize your to do list with self care, happiness, and life planning to help you accomplish more of your purpose and dreams.

18 | Gratitude + Forgiveness Journals

I’m constantly filtering through baggage and like to do so from two angles… letting go of the past that I can’t change or no longer serves me while also cultivating gratitude for all the blessing I currently have. I came across these great journals and they really spoke to me. You can opt for just a regular notebook to jot down 3 things you are grateful for each day, but these products are kinda fun if you want more or perhaps want questions posed for you.

19 | Budgeting Planner

While this may not be what you’d typically think of when your hear self care, getting on top of your finances is one of the most important tools for self care. If you have financial stress, it will be really hard to feel your best. Plus, one of the biggest reasons we can travel and play so much is that we are really good at budgeting. I attribute it to using no credit cards and only cash as the second biggest factor in being able to live this way. (The first factor is having a big enough “why” or a desire so big that you can see it, taste it, picture it, and in the end, manifest it.) Get a monthly budget planner like this one:

Then, use envelopes or these fancy ones below and go to all cash spending.

20 | A New Book

I’m always reading something. Sometimes it’s non-fiction like the latest self help book. Other times it’s a great fiction novel that I can lose myself in. Either way, a huge part of self care is nurturing the mind by creating a mental challenge, learning new skills, understanding new concepts or theories, developing more self awareness, or just allowing your mind to be engrossed in more whimsical thoughts.

Did I miss something? Tell me in the comments if there is some gear or gadget you use for self care.

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Robyn, the creator of Nomads With A Purpose, is a modern nomad. Her and her family, her husband, Victor, and her five kids travel to seek adventure. She is passionate about health and wellness, striving to live A Playful Life.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS Robyn and 18 year old daughter, Gabi are the authors and creators behind nomadswithapurpose.com. They are passionate about adventuring in the outdoors through surfing, rock climbing, mountain biking, and hiking. Together they are inspiring others to explore the outdoors, get outside their comfort zone, and #BraveForAdventure.